End of an era

In some ways it saddens me to have to write this, but at the same time I know it's what's best, so I try and see it in a positive light.

Simply put: I am no longer dedicated or passionate enough to continue running this community. My lack of involvement over the past few years is not what a community needs, and it's not what I want to see become of a community I built.

With that said, I have decided to close Tainted Thoughts down indefinitely. While it might come as a shock to some of you, many of you have no doubt seen it coming for years.

There's no denying that Tainted Thoughts has been a tremendous part of my life, and I'm sure many of your lives as well. It has helped shape the mentality I now have today, and I'm sure it's moulded many of you into other people as well. But as people evolve from the experiences in their lives, so to do their attitudes change. We've grown apart, and despite the fact that I still remain as angry and maladjusted as from my youth, my sense of disconnection from the world has "evolved" to the point where I have (inadvertently) distanced myself from even the others on the outskirts of society. The past few years I was active here, I was already starting to feel disconnected from the base. If I cannot even connect with the other "alternative" people any longer, I am in no position to run a site such as this.

I realize that many of you have grown accustomed to using this community to archive your creative works. For this reason, I will develop a tool allowing you to generate a dump of all your personal data (images, items, posts, private messages, etc.). This data has been preserved, and I will make sure it is available to those who want it.

It's been great to know all of you (well, not all, but most). It's been an incredible learning experience for me and I feel that my mental maturity evolved a thousand-fold from all the debates we had on everything from religion to music or movies. I am a much better person today from the experiences I gained by knowing all of you and running this site. It has been awesome to be associated with you guys and to get a taste of happiness from knowing there are others like me. You've brightened many of my days and made the world seem a little less lonely. I cannot even begin to express how much love I have for this community and all you have given me.

I love you guys from the bottom of my heart,
Lev (Aaron Wright)

Make love, not war. Fight power, not people. Think for yourself and always question authority. Anger is a gift.

For those of you who still wish to keep communication with me going, here are some ways other ways you can reach me: